Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened in 1923. It is one of the largest in number of visitors with about three million visitors annually. Among the noteworthy attractions is the wooden roller coaster Balder, twice voted as the Best Wooden Tracked Roller Coaster in the world in a major international poll. The park itself has also been chosen as one of the top ten amusement parks in the world (2005) by Forbes magazine and second best in Europe (2022) by IAAPA.
An inverted roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. Riders are seated in open cars, letting their feet swing freely. The inverted coaster was pioneered by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard in the early 1990s with the development of Batman: The Ride, which opened at Six Flags Great America on May 9, 1992.
A stand-up roller coaster is a roller coaster where passengers aboard a train stand throughout the course of the ride. The first manufacturer to employ the format was TOGO, a Japanese company that converted two traditional roller coasters in 1982 to stand-up configurations. Arrow Dynamics followed suit in the United States the following year with their own conversion. The first roller coaster designed from the ground up as a stand-up coaster was King Cobra, built by TOGO, which opened at Kings Island in 1984. Intamin and Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) have also designed stand-up models beginning in the 1990s, with the latest opening in 2023 as Pipeline: The Surf Coaster in SeaWorld Orlando.
Incredicoaster is a steel launched roller coaster located at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, the ride was originally opened to the public as California Screamin' in early 2001. It is the only roller coaster with an inversion at the Disneyland Resort and it is the fastest, reaching a maximum speed of 55 mph (89 km/h). With a track length of 6,072 feet (1,851 m), Incredicoaster is the sixth-longest steel roller coaster in the world.
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest roller coasters in the world.
Colossus is a steel roller coaster at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, and the park's first major attraction. It was built by Lichtenstein-based manufacturers Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel as an adaptation of Monte Makaya in Brazil. Colossus was the world's first roller coaster with ten inversions; an exact replica, called the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, was later built at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, China. It retained its title of having the most inversions on any other roller coaster in the world until The Smiler at Alton Towers took the record in 2013.
The Suspended Looping Coaster is a model of steel inverted roller coaster built by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma. There are at least 39 different installations across the world. The minimum rider height requirement is 130 centimetres. Vekoma is now marketing a Suspended Thrill Coaster as a successor to the Suspended Looping Coaster. The Odyssey is the largest, fastest and tallest SLC ever built at Fantasy Island in the UK.
An Accelerator Coaster is a hydraulically launched roller coaster model from Intamin. The model usually consists of a long, straight launch track, a top hat tower element, and magnetic brakes that smoothly stop the train without making contact. The technology was developed by Intamin engineers as an alternative to electromagnetic launch systems, such as the linear induction motor (LIM) and linear synchronous motor (LSM), that are found on earlier launched roller coasters like the Flight of Fear and The Joker's Jinx. Unlike the earlier linear induction motors, the Accelerator Coaster's launch system exhibits constant acceleration and is capable of reaching greater speeds.
Storm Runner is a launched roller coaster located at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by Intamin and situated in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park, the Accelerator Coaster opened to the public on May 8, 2004. It reaches a height of 150 feet (46 m) and catapults riders from 0 to 72 mph (116 km/h) in two seconds. Storm Runner features a top hat element, three inversions, a dual loading station, and a magnetic braking system. In addition, it was designed to interact with three other Hersheypark rides: Dry Gulch Railroad, the Monorail, and Trailblazer.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril is a roller coaster attraction at Disneyland Park (Paris). It opened on 30 July 1993. Based on the Indiana Jones films, guests are taken on an adventure riding in a mining train through a lost temple. The attraction was sponsored by Esso.
Fahrenheit is a steel roller coaster at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Pioneer Frontier section of the park, the roller coaster was manufactured by Intamin and opened on May 24, 2008. It features six inversions and became the steepest roller coaster in the world when it opened with its first drop of 97 degrees. Fahrenheit briefly held the record until Steel Hawg at Indiana Beach, which featured a 111-degree drop, opened several weeks later on July 5. Fahrenheit is also one of the only coasters in the world to feature a Norwegian Loop.
Possessed is an inverted impulse launched roller coaster located at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, the roller coaster originally debuted at Six Flags Ohio amusement park as Superman: Ultimate Escape on May 5, 2000. After Cedar Fair purchased the park and restored its Geauga Lake name in early 2004, the coaster was immediately renamed Steel Venom. The ride closed in 2006 and was moved to Dorney Park. It reopened in 2008 briefly under the name Voodoo, and was renamed Possessed for the 2009 season. The model is identical to five other impulse coaster installations at other amusement parks. A larger version called Wicked Twister was located at Cedar Point until its closure in September 2021.
Blue Fire is a launched roller coaster at Europa-Park. The coaster opened in 2009 as part of a new Iceland-themed expansion to Europa-Park. As the first launched coaster built by Mack Rides, Blue Fire was the park's tenth roller coaster and the first to feature inversions. The ride was sponsored by Gazprom ever since, until the invasion of Ukraine launched by Russia on 24th February 2022. The ride/park now no longer sponsors Gazprom and had to remodel the interior with a new sponsorship, Nord Stream 2. The ride's tagline is "Discover Pure Energy".
An Impulse roller coaster is a form of a launched inverted roller coaster manufactured by Intamin. The first Impulse roller coaster appeared in Japan, and the ride type has since evolved to include four specific layouts, three of these varieties being built in the United States. It uses LIMs to launch a train out of the station and up a vertical spiral. The train then falls backward, is powered again through the station, and heads up a back tower. The train then falls forward, and continues in this fashion for a total of 2½ cycles per ride. On the final forward launch, with a slightly reduced speed, the train is sent up the front tower, and brakes then deploy on the launch track. The train then slows down and heads back into the station.
Valkyria is a steel Dive Coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard operating at Liseberg amusement park in Gothenburg, Sweden. Opened on 10 August 2018, it is Europe's longest and tallest Dive Coaster. The name Valkyria is derived from the Norse mythology creature Valkyrie, a mythological creature that brought fallen warriors to the afterlife.
Hyperion is a steel roller coaster located at Energylandia in Zator, Poland. The ride was manufactured by Swiss manufacturer Intamin and opened on 14 July 2018. It is themed to a fictional mission to Saturn's moon Hyperion and reaches a height of 77 metres (253 ft), has a maximum speed of 142 kilometres per hour (88 mph), and features several hills and banked turns. As of 2021, Hyperion is the tallest, fastest, and longest roller coaster in Poland as well as the tallest roller coaster with an inversion.
Taiga is a steel roller coaster located at the Linnanmäki amusement park in Helsinki, Finland. Taiga is the tallest (52m), fastest (106km/h) and longest (1,104m) roller coaster in Finland.
Lost Island Theme Park is a theme park in Waterloo, Iowa. The 90-acre (36 ha) park includes five themed lands, which feature numerous attractions; including three roller coasters. Lost Island Theme Park is owned by the Bertch family, who operate the Lost Island Waterpark, which is located next to the site of the theme park. Construction on Lost Island Theme Park began in August 2019, it opened on June 18, 2022, and it cost an estimated $100 million.
Monster is a steel inverted roller coaster at Gröna Lund in Stockholm, Sweden. The coaster was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard and is the park's largest investment to date, which a price tag of 450 million Swedish krona. Development and construction of the coaster took several years, and a third of the park was redesigned to accommodate it. Monster opened to the public on June 2, 2021.
Sik is a steel roller coaster at Flamingo Land in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It opened to the public on 2 July 2022.
